Dear Faithful Reader: I'm sorry to have left you for so long. This has been a hectic week and I haven't gotten to the computer at my normal times. Please forgive me and continue to look for LJ's happenings on a regular basis.
LJ's first Easter was a great one! We left at 10:00 am for our trip to MawMaw's house. SJ rode with us and that was nice...someone else to talk to. LJ did fine, he napped and played with very little fussing. We stopped at a RV place on the way as we are looking for a travel trailer to buy. We'd like to find a nice used one, but that is proving more difficult than we thought it would be. We discovered that there is a Cracker Barrel "on the way" (ok it is a few miles out of the way...) so we stopped there to eat fish and chips. VERY YUMMY! We arrived at MawMaw's house around 2:30. We had a nice weekend with Bigbro and his family and LJ's cousin and Friday companion, SJ, helped him find his very first Easter egg.
We got home around 6:00 on Sunday and have been going ever since. Monday was the usual work stuff, but Tuesday we went up to Richard's brother's place as relatives from Pennsylvania were coming to visit. So, LJ got to meet his great aunt, great uncle, and several extended cousins. It was a great time and good food!
Tuesday evening, LJ's aunt M and cousin C came to visit and spend the night. We went out to eat and met up with SJ in the process. Then, M and C stayed with LJ this morning while RJ and I went to work. Since RJ went to work with the roosters (as I always do), he should get to come home early. But, it is almost 4:00 and he isn't home yet.
Tomorrow, we head back to MawMaw's. RJ and I have a conference (we are on the planning committee for this conference) this weekend and it is very near where MawMaw lives. She will keep LJ for us while we are at the conference and we will spend the nights with her. If she weren't available I don't think we'd be going as it is too difficult to leave a nursing baby with someone else for the night. I'm concerned about having enough milk for bottles as it is! We missed this conference last year due to my morning sickness (which, let's face it, doesn't only occur in the AM). It is hard to believe that at this time last year little LJ was on his way!
Monday, March 28, 2005
Monday, March 21, 2005
Thunderstorms - Part II
Nope, LJ is definitely not afraid of thunderstorms. On Saturday evening, we had a doozy of a storm - complete with hail. SJ came over and played with LJ while RJ and I went to church. It poured rain and hailed for about an hour. LJ didn't get upset at all. After church, SJ stayed for dinner and told us all about her trip to London. It sounds like she had a great time...RJ and I are trying to figure out how to get over there. I think LJ would be great...once we got there...it is the plane ride that I'm not sure we want to tackle!
Sunday (and Saturday too), LJ would NOT nap. He wasn't upset (unless we were trying to make him take a nap)...he just didn't want to take a nap. I didn't think this would be good for him...he's a baby for goodness sake. And, he's far too young to be making these kinds of decisions. So, RJ and I tried to put him down several times. See, we were also trying to not swaddle him for his naps. By the end of the day, we gave up, swaddled him, and he took a nap. Apparently, he is not ready for the non-swaddled sleep. Last night, he slept from 8:30 - 6:00. He woke up at 2:00, made some noises, but went back to sleep. Same thing at 5:00. I only wish I could get back to sleep so quickly!
Today, it is storming, so LJ and I sat out on the front porch and listened to the rain. We also watched cars go by and I told him what make and model they were. I figure RJ will be glad about this...if I got them correct. Then LJ started to show signs of sleepiness, so I swaddled him and he is now napping.
This week we are looking forward to going to MawMaw's house for Easter. It will be our first over-night stay besides M&B's wedding...but that was staying in a hotel...this is our first stay in a house. Be careful, if it goes well, we may be coming to visit you next!
Sunday (and Saturday too), LJ would NOT nap. He wasn't upset (unless we were trying to make him take a nap)...he just didn't want to take a nap. I didn't think this would be good for him...he's a baby for goodness sake. And, he's far too young to be making these kinds of decisions. So, RJ and I tried to put him down several times. See, we were also trying to not swaddle him for his naps. By the end of the day, we gave up, swaddled him, and he took a nap. Apparently, he is not ready for the non-swaddled sleep. Last night, he slept from 8:30 - 6:00. He woke up at 2:00, made some noises, but went back to sleep. Same thing at 5:00. I only wish I could get back to sleep so quickly!
Today, it is storming, so LJ and I sat out on the front porch and listened to the rain. We also watched cars go by and I told him what make and model they were. I figure RJ will be glad about this...if I got them correct. Then LJ started to show signs of sleepiness, so I swaddled him and he is now napping.
This week we are looking forward to going to MawMaw's house for Easter. It will be our first over-night stay besides M&B's wedding...but that was staying in a hotel...this is our first stay in a house. Be careful, if it goes well, we may be coming to visit you next!
Friday, March 18, 2005
LJ's First St, Patrick's Day
Ok, I admit...we don't really do anything for St. Patrick's Day. We don't even make sure we are wearing green, but as it turns out, LJ was wearing green. RJ was not, so I put some green (lime scented) lotion on my hand, found him, and pinched him! All in good fun. Let's see, what did we do on this day? I made a pound cake...yes, from scratch. It is a little dry, but put some butter on it, put it in the microwave for 10 seconds and that takes care of that problem. RJ sketched out plans for a porch on the back of our house...to keep the sun from oppressively beating in the windows in the afternoon. LJ hung out, ate, slept, and played.
Wednesday, we took LJ to his first sporting event. The ladies and the men are in post-season basketball, so we caught the end of the ladies' and the beginning of the men's games. He seemed to like it all right.
This weekend we plan to do regular stuff...laundry, clean up, etc. RJ will probably work on that porch.
LJ has been waking up once during the night...that hasn't been too much fun. We are hoping it is a growth spurt or something of that ilk.
Wednesday, we took LJ to his first sporting event. The ladies and the men are in post-season basketball, so we caught the end of the ladies' and the beginning of the men's games. He seemed to like it all right.
This weekend we plan to do regular stuff...laundry, clean up, etc. RJ will probably work on that porch.
LJ has been waking up once during the night...that hasn't been too much fun. We are hoping it is a growth spurt or something of that ilk.
Monday, March 14, 2005
LJ's First Visit to Grandma & Grandpa's House
Note: Please excuse my misplaced modifier in the title of the previous post. LJ's visit to the doctor did not last 4 months as you may have been lead to believe.
This is the first day of Spring Break here...don't you miss Spring Break? A whole week! Actually, the students have a whole week...we have Friday off. But, RJ and I took off today and we plan to go visit LJ's Aunt MJ and Uncle BJ this afternoon. Yesterday we took a longer car ride and went to visit LJ's Grandma and Grandpa (RJ's parents). This was LJ's first visit to their house and RJ stood him up on the ground when we arrived. You know, touch the earth kind of thing. I think this is the first time little LJ has touched the ground (outside) with his little feet. We had a nice visit...uncle BJ was there too...and got home in time for dinner, bath, and bed.
LJ has been a little fussy...while eating...and has been putting his hand up to his left ear. He isn't fussy when he's doing that though. We thought, "Could he be teething?" and put some baby Oragel on his little gums. This seemed to do the trick for the fussy-ness while eating, but who really knows. According to the book, this would be a little early for teething, but not impossible. I don't like the holding his ear thing, but I don't know how much stock to put in that. It is just this past week that he has been grabbing at toys (with purpose...oh, and they go straight to his mouth...ha!), so I can't see how he's refined this skill so much that he can think, "hmmm, pain...I must touch it with my hand." He may just be tired when he's doing that...he's started rubbing his eyes when he's tired. This is good...I can't miss that cue, so I get him down for his naps a little sooner.
Hope you treat yourself to a Spring Break soon!
This is the first day of Spring Break here...don't you miss Spring Break? A whole week! Actually, the students have a whole week...we have Friday off. But, RJ and I took off today and we plan to go visit LJ's Aunt MJ and Uncle BJ this afternoon. Yesterday we took a longer car ride and went to visit LJ's Grandma and Grandpa (RJ's parents). This was LJ's first visit to their house and RJ stood him up on the ground when we arrived. You know, touch the earth kind of thing. I think this is the first time little LJ has touched the ground (outside) with his little feet. We had a nice visit...uncle BJ was there too...and got home in time for dinner, bath, and bed.
LJ has been a little fussy...while eating...and has been putting his hand up to his left ear. He isn't fussy when he's doing that though. We thought, "Could he be teething?" and put some baby Oragel on his little gums. This seemed to do the trick for the fussy-ness while eating, but who really knows. According to the book, this would be a little early for teething, but not impossible. I don't like the holding his ear thing, but I don't know how much stock to put in that. It is just this past week that he has been grabbing at toys (with purpose...oh, and they go straight to his mouth...ha!), so I can't see how he's refined this skill so much that he can think, "hmmm, pain...I must touch it with my hand." He may just be tired when he's doing that...he's started rubbing his eyes when he's tired. This is good...I can't miss that cue, so I get him down for his naps a little sooner.
Hope you treat yourself to a Spring Break soon!
Wednesday, March 09, 2005
LJ's 4-Month Visit to the Doctor
LJ’s stats:
Height – 27 inches (this is “off the chart” – above the 100th percentile)
Weight – 15 pounds 3.5 ounces (this is in the 50th percentile – meaning “average”)
Head Circumference – 17 inches (this is in the 75th percentile)
As a parent of an infant you are very excited about these visits as they show you how much your baby has grown. You even place bets on what these statistics will be…for weight anyway.
RJ – 16 pounds 2 ounces
MJ – 16 pounds even
SJ – 16 pounds 4 ounces
And the winner is:
JJ – 15 pounds 14 ounces
So, LJ is a long baby of average weight…sound like anyone you know? Who LJ happens to look more and more like everyday? So far it appears that little baby J is taking after his father in all things looks-related.
LJ had 4 shots today and he was a little trooper. She had the first needle in his leg and was putting the second in before LJ started to howl. He only cried at the time of the injections…after that he was smiles again. He’s a tough kid!
I’ve decided that I am going to try to teach LJ some sign language…just little things like milk, pain, love, etc. The theory is that infants are capable of communicating before they develop language skills, so if you teach them so signs, they can communicate with you long before they can say the words. It is worth a shot! I ordered a little book that has 60 signs in it…all American Sign Language, so it’ll be useful in the future as well.
Height – 27 inches (this is “off the chart” – above the 100th percentile)
Weight – 15 pounds 3.5 ounces (this is in the 50th percentile – meaning “average”)
Head Circumference – 17 inches (this is in the 75th percentile)
As a parent of an infant you are very excited about these visits as they show you how much your baby has grown. You even place bets on what these statistics will be…for weight anyway.
RJ – 16 pounds 2 ounces
MJ – 16 pounds even
SJ – 16 pounds 4 ounces
And the winner is:
JJ – 15 pounds 14 ounces
So, LJ is a long baby of average weight…sound like anyone you know? Who LJ happens to look more and more like everyday? So far it appears that little baby J is taking after his father in all things looks-related.
LJ had 4 shots today and he was a little trooper. She had the first needle in his leg and was putting the second in before LJ started to howl. He only cried at the time of the injections…after that he was smiles again. He’s a tough kid!
I’ve decided that I am going to try to teach LJ some sign language…just little things like milk, pain, love, etc. The theory is that infants are capable of communicating before they develop language skills, so if you teach them so signs, they can communicate with you long before they can say the words. It is worth a shot! I ordered a little book that has 60 signs in it…all American Sign Language, so it’ll be useful in the future as well.
Saturday, March 05, 2005
Advice Please...
RJ and LJ are still sleeping (at 8:45 am), so I have a few minutes (or maybe many minutes...who knows?) to ask you something that RJ and I have been wondering...
How can we make sure that LJ is a kind little boy (and grown up)? He is very cute, but this may come and go. He has a pretty nice temperament right now. It'll break my heart if he is a little meany. So, is there something we should be watching for? Some moment we need to seize? Some infant behavior we need to recognize as the precursors to meany-ness? I know it is too early for this now, but we really want him to be a nice person.
Any thoughts?
And it is now 8:50 and I hear RJ and LJ, so I did have only a few minutes.
How can we make sure that LJ is a kind little boy (and grown up)? He is very cute, but this may come and go. He has a pretty nice temperament right now. It'll break my heart if he is a little meany. So, is there something we should be watching for? Some moment we need to seize? Some infant behavior we need to recognize as the precursors to meany-ness? I know it is too early for this now, but we really want him to be a nice person.
Any thoughts?
And it is now 8:50 and I hear RJ and LJ, so I did have only a few minutes.
Wednesday, March 02, 2005
2-Day Delay
I've decided that babies (LJ anyway) have a 2-day delay in "reacting" to things that I would think would really get them out-of-kilter. We had a great weekend with my brother's family. Great = visiting, hanging out, laughing, and eating. Maw Maw arrived on Sunday and took us all out to lunch...yum! All of LJ's cousins wanted to hold him and play with him and LJ didn't really get fussy at all...even though he missed most of his naps in the process. Each night, I'd go to bed and think, "well, he didn't really nap today...what's going to happen tonight...is he 'overtired'?" And, he would sleep until his normal time, wake to eat, and then go back to sleep...until 9:30 or 10:00 (this is amazing too). So, on Sunday I decided...no big deal...LJ reacted fine...and then there was last night (and thus the 2-day delay theory). We made great strides to have LJ ready for his last nursing session before bed by 8:00 - to coincide with The Amazing Race. That went well and LJ was off to sleep by 8:30. He woke at 11:30...RJ got him back to sleep. He woke at 12:30...RJ tried, but decided LJ was hungry. He nursed...went back to sleep. He woke up at 3:30...at which point we put him in bed with us. He slept "all right" until 6:30...RJ fed him a bottle as I was getting ready for work. As I left, RJ was trying to get LJ to go back to sleep. So, I'm thinking it is a 2-day delayed reaction to his eventful weekend. I have to come up with an alternative to the growth spurt theory!
SJ has offered to have some cousin time with LJ this week, so we are taking her up on her offer. She suggested we see "Hitch" and we have heard that it is really funny...so that is what we are doing this afternoon. RJ is going to take off early today and we are going to a movie. How decadent! I hope I'm rested enough not to fall asleep during this one. If you recall, I fell asleep during "Ocean's 12", but if you've seen it, that may make sense to you.
So far as I'm concerned...things are going well. I've managed to lose enough weight to fit into jeans a size smaller. Just one more size to go. This is nice, but causes a problem as I only have 1 pair of pants (jeans) this size...I had 2 of the larger size *sigh*. But, what can you do? I had to take some measures to lose weight...breastfeeding has not "melted away the pounds" as it apparently does for so many. I didn't really expect it to...my metabolism has never been like that. The only thing I've really done is to stop eating with reckless abandon every day of the week. I haven't been exercising or greatly limiting my calories. Every breastfeeding mom will likely tell you that one of their fears is that their milk supply will decrease, that this will be unknown to them, that the baby will secretly be starving, and that once they realize their supply is low...it will be too late to do anything about it. This is why the weight loss is such a tricky issue. Or, maybe this is a rationalization on my part?
RJ is doing well...he longs for the day when he can get some work done around the house. By this I mean...in the garage and outside. It has rained here every 2-3 days for about 6 months...so the grass is growing (and the weeds too), but it is always too wet to mow. Our yard looks like a jungle. I told him that one day...LJ will take longer naps a couple of times a day and we'll both be able to get more done. I'm not sure he believes me, but he is ever hopeful!
SJ has offered to have some cousin time with LJ this week, so we are taking her up on her offer. She suggested we see "Hitch" and we have heard that it is really funny...so that is what we are doing this afternoon. RJ is going to take off early today and we are going to a movie. How decadent! I hope I'm rested enough not to fall asleep during this one. If you recall, I fell asleep during "Ocean's 12", but if you've seen it, that may make sense to you.
So far as I'm concerned...things are going well. I've managed to lose enough weight to fit into jeans a size smaller. Just one more size to go. This is nice, but causes a problem as I only have 1 pair of pants (jeans) this size...I had 2 of the larger size *sigh*. But, what can you do? I had to take some measures to lose weight...breastfeeding has not "melted away the pounds" as it apparently does for so many. I didn't really expect it to...my metabolism has never been like that. The only thing I've really done is to stop eating with reckless abandon every day of the week. I haven't been exercising or greatly limiting my calories. Every breastfeeding mom will likely tell you that one of their fears is that their milk supply will decrease, that this will be unknown to them, that the baby will secretly be starving, and that once they realize their supply is low...it will be too late to do anything about it. This is why the weight loss is such a tricky issue. Or, maybe this is a rationalization on my part?
RJ is doing well...he longs for the day when he can get some work done around the house. By this I mean...in the garage and outside. It has rained here every 2-3 days for about 6 months...so the grass is growing (and the weeds too), but it is always too wet to mow. Our yard looks like a jungle. I told him that one day...LJ will take longer naps a couple of times a day and we'll both be able to get more done. I'm not sure he believes me, but he is ever hopeful!
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